If 3ds max 7 can do it, you can do it too ... "Max" is a powerhouse of impressive features, and whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, you’ll find version 7 exciting, challenging, and a lot of fun. This book is packed with everything you need to create professional-quality animations with Max. It covers every feature, with special emphasis on features new to this version. Best of all, it teaches you to use this versatile software in a context designed to spark your creativity, with full color examples of 3ds max creations that will inspire you. Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of 3ds max 7 Use the special Quick Start tutorial chapter to create your first 3D animation project right away Explore new modeling features, including the Edit Poly modifier and new Skin Wrap and Skin Morph modifiers Add details to low-polygon models with Max’s new normal mapping feature Discover how the new Deformation Paintbrush features can push and pull mesh objects to add smooth details Animate characters and crowds with the integrated Character Studio features Learn from tutorials that teach you key concepts in ten steps or less and provide figure examples to study and compare

* Packed with expert advice, timesaving tips, and more than 150 step-by-step tutorials, this book is a must for anyone who wants to master this complex, expensive software package
* Offers full coverage of new software features and enhancements and shows users how to master everything from the Particle Flow interface and architectural objects and materials to Shockwave 3D Export and VertexPaint features
* The companion CD-ROMs include a demo version of the new 3ds max, tutorial files, 3D models, bonus plug-ins, and more
* 3ds max is used to create approximately eighty percent of the top video games-including Grand Theft Auto 3-and is extensively employed for special effects in movies such as The Matrix Reloaded

Step by Step

This is a pretty good book, but the examples need to show step by step in picture what is taking place. The first snag I ran into was the quick start. It tells you to do an outline and use the lathe modifier. There needed to be a picture of how he set up his spline. All we got was the finished lathed image. Until I loaded the file and removed the lathe modifier, I had no idea how he had drawn th intial spline. Overall it provides good instructions and I am glad to see better quality models than the ones in MAX 6 bible. Who wants to get taught how to use software, if the models look cheesy?

Another example of bad how to books in computing

This book suffers from the almost universal problem that most computer instructional guides do... lack of any educational theory in its writing. It does not guide the newcomer through the art of learning the software, but rather deals with issues as if one is going through the menu commands. The tutorials consistantly use elements and commands that one will not cover for another hundred por more pages, and the chapters are not designed to "build on the student’s knowledge" but rather to give all information about a given cocept right from the beginning. Thus, I am taught how to personalise the user interface and use XREFs (external references) before I am told how to create even the simplest of objects.

I am an experienced 3D analylist, with knowledge of CAD and GIS, so I am not the least experienced of readers on this topic. Even so I found it frequently infuriating to attempt to learn this software using this book.

The word Bible attracts attention... clever marketing.

The book covers a great deal of 3d max. But I was looking for instructions on how to make something glow once, so I thought of Render Post, Max’s lens effects UI. I looked at the book and it had a "tiny" and yes I mean "tiny" section on Render Post. Absolutely nothing endepth.
So if you’re looking for a great all around book that has small pieces of most aspects inside Max, (not every thing and endepth in everything like I thought it might be because of the word Bible) this book is the ticket.

A Great Resource

This big book really covers a lot of territory. Whether you are a beginner or more advanced, there is plenty of great information.

This Book is Great !!!

I purchased this book so I could get a handle on some of the new features in 3D Studio Max 7, and guess what, It’s got just about everything in it. The tutorials are pretty simple stuff,(no real eye candy here) but the principals learned are great.
I’d recomend this book to anybody using this software, It will give you a great grounding to try out your own ideas on creating special effects and the like.
Well done Kelly L. Murdock for producing such a complete reference manual.

Superb reference material!

I keep this book right next to my workstation, and use it all the time! I have been using Max for seven years, and this book still teaches me things I never knew. It may be a little rough for beginners, but no sense in walking when you can run. :) Not to mention it has a cd with it that has the entire book on it plus some basic 3d models to play with. I recommend this book to all my friends who want a good reference that covers it all.

3DS Max 7 Bible

This book is very in depth. This is even a great reference for pros!

EXCELLENT

im sure this book is completely helpful for the one who wants to learn more abour 3d max, even if you are a beginner or a master in order to create all things you would have on your mind.

Complete but confusing

While this book covers a lot of material it is very confusing. The first chapter shouldn’t be attempted until you read the second chapter. The first exercise asks you to create a project without first taking you through the interface. That comes in the second chapter.

Not the best book for a beginner. The tutorials that come with 3ds max are better.

Nothing like the Bible from start to finish.

You’ll get a kick out of this. It covers almost everything at great lenghts. After buying Max this would be the book for you. I guarantee that you’de be an animator at the end. You’ll even crave for more once you’ve finished this for other reading materials. Highly recommended and nicely layed out.

thorough working of 3ds max, but...

While Murdock covers all aspects of 3ds max in great detail, he does very little to explain the actual process of modelling.
Although the 3ds max bible is full of tutorials, they almost always start from a given model and end with only a brief modification to it.
I would have prefered more tutorials that start from *scratch* and work to decent end-product.